1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a vehicle identification system for law enforcement and, more particularly, to a system for reading license tags on vehicles to enable law enforcement agencies to identify stolen license tags, stolen vehicles and expired vehicle registrations.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The number of vehicles stolen in the United States each year is appalling and continues to increase at an alarming rate. According to a vehicle theft rate study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) the number of vehicles stolen in major cities, as well as the vehicle theft rate (i.e. the number of vehicle thefts reported per 100,000 in population) has increased from 1999 to 2001. Most alarming is the actual number of vehicle thefts reported in major cities. For instance, in the year 2001, there were 67,909 vehicles reported stolen in the greater Los Angeles/Long Beach area of Southern California. In that same year, 44,922 vehicles were reported stolen in Chicago, Ill., while 35,161 vehicle thefts were reported in Phoenix, Ariz. and 23,610 vehicle thefts were reported in Miami, Fla. Other major cities had theft numbers of the same general magnitude.
The vast number of vehicles reported stolen in any particular city or municipality makes it extremely difficult for law enforcement agencies to quickly identify a stolen vehicle. Every day, police in all cities and towns of the United States drive past stolen vehicles on the road. However, because police have limited resources to identify the stolen vehicles, in most cases the stolen vehicle goes unnoticed. When a stolen vehicle is identified, it is usually as a result of a traffic violation, commission of a crime or other suspicious activity which prompts a police officer to call in the vehicle's tag number and vehicle identification number to a central database. Unfortunately, most stolen vehicles do not remain on the road for a long enough time to be identified by the methods presently employed by law enforcement agencies. Typically, stolen vehicles are dismantled at “chop shops” and the parts are sold individually. In other instances, stolen vehicles are shipped to other countries and never recovered. And, it is generally accepted in the law enforcement community that, unless a stolen vehicle is recovered within 24 hours of theft, it is highly unlikely that the stolen car will ever be found. While vehicle theft recovery systems are presently in use, most require a significant investment by the vehicle owner to have a transmitting device installed in a secret location on the vehicle. Systems of this nature require continual payment of monthly fees. As a result, the expense of these systems is only practical and affordable to drivers of high-end; luxury vehicles. For this reason, most cars on the road today are not outfitted with a vehicle theft recovery system.
While the number of vehicles stolen each year is staggering, the number of vehicles driving with expired registrations is far greater in number. Certainly, an expired registration is a far less serious matter than vehicle theft. Nonetheless, enforcing vehicle registration renewal is a difficult task for law enforcement and motor vehicle agencies in each state. Presently, law enforcement officers are required to visually identify expired vehicle registrations by viewing decals attached to the rear license tag. In most states, a vehicle registration renewal decal is affixed to the tag on the rear bumper of the vehicle, with an indication of the expiration date according to the month and year of expiration. However, due to the small size of the registration decals, it is difficult for a police officer trailing a moving vehicle to read the expiration date. As a matter of practice, most police officers will routinely read the registration decal on the car in front of them while they are stopped at a traffic light or stop sign. Using this method, police officers are only able to check the vehicle registration decals on a small percentage of vehicles on the road. Moreover, there is presently no means for a police officer to quickly identify whether the registration renewal decal or license tag has been removed or stolen from another vehicle.
Accordingly, in view of the above-noted problems concerning identification of stolen vehicles, license tag and decal theft and determining vehicle registration expiration, there remains an urgent need in the law enforcement community for a computerized scanning system which enables rapid capture and processing of vehicle registration data on multiple vehicles in the direct forward proximity of a law enforcement vehicle.